Holy Week in the Coptic Orthodox Tradition.

 

This Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week in the Orthodox Christian tradition, following the first 48 days of the Great Lent. As a minority tradition in the UK, the rites f this week for the Orthodox are quite different to those majority Christian communities around us. Therefore I thought it a good idea to explain the rites of Holy Week in the Coptic Orthodox tradition.

In the Coptic Orthodox Church Holy Week comprises of around 60 hours of services, including liturgies, the general funeral, daily pascha services and the 22 hour Good Friday and Bright Saturday prayers and vigil, and over 450 scripture readings, including all four Gospels in their entirety alongside the complete books of Psalms and Revelation in a single day.

The week begins with Psalm Sunday, one of the seven major feasts of the Coptic Church calendar, starting with the Palm Sunday procession on Sunday morning during morning incense (matins) and the liturgy following. In earlier periods the Palm Sunday procession would occur outside of the church, but this practice was forbidden in Egypt by the Caliph in the 10^th century and therefore the procession only occurs within the church building. The Palm Sunday procession consists of a procession to twelve points in the church, most often beside specific icons, with Gospel readings on themes or events associated with the feast. During the Divine Liturgy the events of Palm Sunday are recounted from all four Gospels, so that the event is explained from all four perspectives.  

Following the end of the liturgy the community will traditionally hold the general funeral prayer, this is a prayer held for the whole congregation as no funerals are permitted to be held during Holy Week. The general funeral prayer is received by the entire congregation, recognising that this week we are continuing to focus on the coming death of Christ, meaning with this prayer complete the rite of the funeral has been held for all and any who may die in the coming days. The day ends with the first of the week’s Pascha services, in this case the 9^th and 11^th hours of Palm Sunday.

Monday through Wednesday of Holy Week in the Coptic Orthodox Tradition consist of ten daily service known as ‘Pascha services.’ These are held for the 1^st, 3^rd, 6^th, 9^th and 11^th hours of each day, and the same for each evening, however these are often compacted parishes to cover one long morning service, and one long evening service. Each of these services consists of the readings of the prophecies for the day, the chanted Coptic psalm, the Gospel,  the Doxology (the Coptic hymn ‘Thok te tigom’ – Meaning “Yours in the Power…”), the reading of the patristic commentary for the Gospel, and supplication prayers. As with midnight prayer services, the priest and choir lead these services from the same level as the congregation and without vestment, as it is not a formal liturgical event.  This continues as it is for the first three days, apart from the addition of the line “PaSoteer EnAgathos” (My good saviour) to the Thok Te Tigom from the eve of Wednesday. This is a symbol of the Lord beginning his passion at this point, since on Wednesday of Holy Week the chief priests and scribes began plotting his downdall.

With Holy Thursday the Holy Week begins to take on a more formal setting. The day begins with the Lakkan, the liturgy of the waters, in which the highest ranking priest in a parish will wash the feet of the other priests, deacons, and congregants. This service consists of the traditional raising of incense, along with key prayers and the blessing of the water before the washing of the feet. This is followed by the Divine Liturgy, which commemorates the Last Supper, followed by the appropriate Pascha services for the eve of Good Friday. A major change which occurs on this day is an inclusion of an additional line to the ‘Thok Te Tigom’ doxology, which states “Tagom nem PaEsmou pe EpChois,; Afsopi nei evsothria ethouab.” Meaning “The Lord is my strength, my praise, and has become my holy salvation.” This is added to remind the congregation that the evnts henceforth express the strength an love of Christ on the cross.

In Coptic Orthodox Churches there is no service which surpasses that of Good Friday. In most Churches this day’s services last approximately 22-23 hours, beginning around 7am and ending 6am on Bright Saturday. The day begins with the Pascha services which run continually from around 7am, most of the congregation arriving for that point and remaining standing apart from the readings and prostrations.  Each of the Pascha services gives the prophecies, Psalms, and the four Gospels relating to each part of the day from the judgement of Christ to his eventual burial with the commentaries explaining the event.

A key aspect of each of these ours is also the changing setting of the Church, with the icon of the crucifixion being added to the front of the Church with crosses, incense, and rose petals which foreshadow the later burial.

By the sixth hour the theme is entirely on the Cross, and a number of key hymns are recited to remember this, including the ancient hymn O Momogenis (Oh Only begotten) which was written by St Severus of Antioch. This is followed by the Gospels pertaining to Christ on the cross and the chanting of Aripamevi (Remember me…) in memorial of St Dismas, the thief on the cross, and his salvation. On the 9^th hour Christ’s death is remembered and his icon is censed by the Priest.

Though other days in Holy Week usually end with the 11^th hour, Good Friday ends includes the 12^th, in which the burial service of Christ is held. Following the 12h hour Gospel and Psalm the priest will lay the Icon of Christ on the altar and wrap the icon in a white linen cloth with incense, rose petals, and spices. This is then covered and two candles placed beside it to represent the two angels present at the tomb. The priests and deacons will then read Psalms 1-3 until Psalms 3:5 “I laid down and slept”, at which point the lights of the Church are turned off, and no one speaks, mourning the burial of the Lord. At this point people who remain will read the entirety of the book of Psalms. Moat at this point quietly break their fast or get some rest before the start of the vigil.

At around 11pm on Good Friday a unique service occurs, the Apocalypse service. This is unique as it is a service unique to the Coptic tradition (as far as I am aware) and it is also the only time that the Apocalypse of St John (Book of Revelation) is read in the Coptic Church since it was only formally added to the canon of scripture after the lectionary was formalised. This puts the text and this service in a very unique position.

The Apocalypse service is a vigil held before the closed altar, in which the text of the Apocalypse of John is read in its entirety along with prayers, processions, and additional readings and prophecies. The service begins with the reading of Psalm 151 (Yes, our Bible has 151 Psalms), which signifies the end of the reading of the Psalms from the 12^th hour, there is then the morning incense service for the Saturday, with praises and readings of the praises taken from the Old Testament such as those of Moses, Hannah, Jonah, Manasseh, Isaiah, Daniel, Hezekiah, Elijah, David, and the Three Young Men. These are added signifying recognition of the act of Christ on the Cross. Following this the Book of Revelation is read formally from the lectern, with processions and hymns at significant points. Following the end of all 22 chapters of the book of Revelation there is a divine liturgy. On a personal note this service goes remarkably smoothly considering that those servicing have usually been awake for 20+ hours.

On Saturday evening comes the most important event in the church calendar, the Liturgy for the Resurrection of our Lord. It is the holiest point in the holiest week of the liturgical calendar. The liturgy of the resurrection is celebrated in the paschal tune and includes some key differences to the annual service. The first major notable event is the resurrection narrative. This is a part of the service in both the Alexandrian and Byzantine rites, and tells the events of the harrowing of Hell using the wording of Psalm 27:7-10 to express the opening of the gates of Hades and freeing of those captive when Christ died on the cross. This begins with he chanting of the words, “Christos Anesti” (Christ is Risen) by a Deacon outside of the altar, which begins the “Resurrection play” which is a chanted dialogue between the deacon and priest, using the narrative mentioned in Psalm 24. At the end of this the altar is opened and the lights turned on, commencing the Paschal procession to the hymn of “Christos Anesti.” This same procession occurs in every liturgy for the next 50 days, until Pentecost.

After the hymn, the four Gospels are read, all expressing the resurrection. This is followed by a sermon and the Papal message from His Holiness the Patriarch of Alexandria. From this point on the liturgy continues as normal, with the extended paschal tune. In most Churches there is then n agape meal consisting of meat, dairy, and other foods which were not permitted during the great lent.

I wish you all a blessed Holy Week and Resurrection, even if you are not celebrating or have already done so.